Blake Baer‘s microscale tornado vignette caught my attention at BrickFair. It’s a unique concept carried out effectively with the simple technique of stacking layers of SNOT’d bricks. I also love the use of books as the roofs on the houses.
I can’t get enough of this new space bomber by (Jerac). This creation sports more facets than any diamond I’ve ever seen, and they certainly gleam. Jerac has made use of many thin parts (like doors and wings) to achieve a compact shape that still has room to carry a bunch of ordinance.
Matt De Lanoy (Pepa Quin) built the Red Team lineup from Valve’s Team Fortress 2.
BrickArms released new weapons including the M1919 Machine Gun, HAC (Heavy Assault Carbine), ARC (Advanced Recon Carbine), and M3 Grease Gun to equip your military minifigs.
During my wife and my last two trips to Japan, the complex at Kiyomizu-dera has been the first stop after detraining at Kyoto Station so it made me happy to see among Matija Grguric’s excellent series of world landmarks (including Easter Island heads and Great Wall) this colorful pagoda based on the one at Kiyomizu-dera. I’m especially impressed by the contours of red painted woodcarving under the eaves and the tiled angles on the roofs.
If you’re ever at Kyomizu-dera, it’s worth grabbing a snack at the little stand just inside the southwest entrance. Tea, mochi dango and kitsune udon.
Jon Hall combines a fairly massive amount of “official” chrome LEGO bricks with a handful of elements from Chrome Bricks to achieve this wonderfully shiny sky-fighter reminiscent of the P-38 Lightning from World War II.
And since we missed his previous two models, here’s a pair of his sky pirates:
Valgarise built this lovely modular structure as a birthday present for his friend Many. It has a complete interior, but what sets it apart for me is the pair of windows on the upper floor.
As you may or may not realize, I’m a total sucker for a pretty tall ship. I suppose it comes with the territory of being raised around boats. Combine LEGO, a pretty ship, and a fabulous display, and it just makes my heart soar.
Luke Hutchinson (Derfel Cadarn)has posted his creation, the Princess Ceinwyn, which happens to combine the three aforementioned things. This is a lovely three-masted ship, and the presentation and base complete the look.
Check out some of the other photos! The details are stunning!
Another builder (Joshua Morris) has brought us a large space ship, built primarily of dark blue. I’ve had a big ship in progress in this color for well over a year, and every time I see one posted, it makes me both happy and sad.
Any element of feeling beaten to the punch is overcome by appreciation for the creation, though. The Ticonderoga here is a nice, solid build. It looks like it could take a beating and keep running. The use of trans orange for the windows is something that has never occured to me, but it looks quite nice.
I can’t believe Aliens is 25 years old. I’m not sure Giovanni Tuzzi built this life-size M41A1 Pulse Rifle to celebrate the movie’s anniversary, but it’s certainly awesome.
Giovanni’s rifle includes several working functions, including triggers, cocking handle, pumping grip, and removable magazine.
In addition to the bottles and beakers unveiled at BrickFair, BrickForge has just announced “Shock Trooper” helmets and armor that fit right in with their existing “Space Marine” armor.
BrickFair 2011 took place near Washington, DC this weekend. I wanted to hit up one more con before med school starts next week, so I decided to attend my first Lego convention in the Northeast and see some new people and MOCs that couldn’t make it to the other two large Lego conventions in the US: Brickworld and Brickcon.
The first thing that struck me was the enormous exhibit hall, which was about the size (and appearance) of an empty Walmart store. The next thing that struck me was the diversity of creations, including whole areas for less-commonly exhibited themes such as steampunk, post-apocalypse, even NASA. Lastly, I was amazed by the sheer number of people who showed up during the weekend public hours (above video), which turned out to be about 17,000.
Among the MOCs displayed, some of my favorites were Arthur Gugick‘s transforming mosaic, Black Baer‘s tornado vignette, the entire aquapocalypse display, and a cute Bionicle poster (not a MOC, I know). The list goes on, so I took a walkthrough video of the exhibit hall and highlighted more interesting creations along the way. Speaking of which, I’m glad people have found this video helpful. I plan on doing guided tours of the Lego conventions that I attend in the future.
I’m glad I made the decision to come to BrickFair, and I hope to do so next year as well (and perhaps have the rest of Awesometown). You can see my photos at BrickFair on Flickr or more on the BrickFair Flickr group.